Worried relatives wait for students in a grocery store parking lot near Reynolds High School, where a 15-year-old boy gunned down a fellow student and wounded a teacher before killing himself June 10. (
(The Oregonian/Beth Nakamura)

Want to keep up with local commentary on western Washington County issues? This is the place. Catch up with our weekly roundup of guest columns, editorials, letters to the editor and more, all pertaining to Hillsboro and nearby communities.

"The Washington County Commission should trust voters enough to let them decide on whether the proposed vehicle registration fee is the best mechanism by which to repair roads and whether the fee is justified in the face of other spending and revenue priorities established by the commission." -- The Oregonian Editorial Board

"The anxiety and frustration is growing. Week after week now, we hear of a shooting at a school somewhere in the United States. It's an epidemic of tragedy and horror that diminishes all of us and tears at the foundation of our humanity." -- Hillsboro Tribune

"We have pages and pages of gun laws already; we just need to start enforcing them. The background check system we have works fine; it flags ineligible people who have criminal histories. The mental health history list has to come when they fix the mental health system. Waiting periods serve no purpose." -- Bellamy

"According to a recent study, almost one third of young Americans under the age of 34 still live with their parents. Unemployment among the young, especially among minority youth, is depressingly high....It is no wonder the tone of 2014 graduations is less hopeful and idealistic." -- Carroll